This volume, which gathers contributions, some of which were presented at the conference “From Dante to the Present Day: Disease Outbreaks, Epidemics, and Pandemics in Language, Literature, and Culture” held in Split in September 2021, contains twelve chapters authored by professors and researchers from various European universities; eleven are in Italian and one is in English. Spanning from the Middle Ages to the present day, and from Petrarch to twenty-first-century authors, each contribution aims to identify the dynamics surrounding the theme of illness within literary texts. The monograph seeks to highlight issues concerning the human condition: specifically, external events that inevitably trigger a reaction capable of bringing about either positive changes or negative consequences. Ultimately, the defining outcome of such an external event is a significant transformation and change for both the individual and the collective.
